It’s arduous to think about higher homeowners of an expert sports activities staff than the late Paul Allen and his sister, Jody. The siblings turned the Seahawks into Tremendous Bowl winners, constructed an ideal, open-air stadium within the coronary heart of Seattle and remained first rate human beings.
Now that the staff is up on the market, although, it’s straightforward to think about the following homeowners not being almost as beneficiant or attuned to the town. Paul Allen had a whole lot of coronary heart; loads of billionaires appear to be lacking that organ.
The primary infuriating indication that issues will take a flip for the more severe is that sports activities commentators are musing in regards to the chance — if not the probability — that any group of gazillionaires buying the Seahawks will, briefly order, decide they need to replace Lumen Field with a new stadium that enhances their potential to change into much more ridiculously rich.
This prospect could sound insane to anybody who doesn’t fairly perceive the avaricious nature of the Nationwide Soccer League. In spite of everything, the present stadium nonetheless appears comparatively new, it’s spectacularly situated and it has been the location of many wonderful milestones within the historical past of each the Seahawks and the Sounders. However, most NFL homeowners at all times need extra.
The promoting value of the staff goes to be someplace between $6 billion and $10 billion, so the consumers might be searching for methods to justify their splurge. A kind of methods is to get a brand new stadium that can siphon off much more gobs of {dollars} than the outdated one.
If this sort of cash insanity is inevitable, one factor native residents ought to make clear early on — like now — is that we’re not going to pay for a new playground for millionaire gamers and billionaire homeowners.
Let the brand new stewards of the Seahawks go erect a extra profitable enjoyable home in Bellevue or Redmond and even Snoqualmie Move (the 49ers stadium in Santa Clara is almost as far outdoors San Francisco because the go is distant from Seattle). It’s a silly thought, however go forward.
Simply don’t assume taxpayers can pay for it. Seattle already has an ideal stadium.
See extra of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View different syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s notice: Seattle Occasions Opinion not appends remark threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many feedback violated our community policies and reviewing the handfuls that had been flagged as inappropriate required an excessive amount of of our restricted workers time. You’ll be able to remark through a Letter to the Editor. Please e mail us at letters@seattletimes.com and embody your full title, tackle and phone quantity for verification solely. Letters are restricted to 200 phrases.
